


Lucky To Hear All Your Lines

by MyEnglishRose



Series: Escapism [3]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: (I just don't know how else to tag this), (again just kind of), Action/Adventure, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Canon Compliant, Complicated Relationships, Hurt/Comfort, Love Triangles, M/M, Other, Post-Episode: Putting Others First - Selfishness v. Selflessness Redux | Sanders Sides, only briefly for like two scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:27:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26720632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyEnglishRose/pseuds/MyEnglishRose
Summary: Roman made a promise to himself, and Logan, and it is to never ever let Janus get inside his head ever again. It is way more complicated than he cares to admit especially when the latter comes to him with answers he has been searching for a while.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Series: Escapism [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815931
Comments: 9
Kudos: 31





	Lucky To Hear All Your Lines

**Author's Note:**

> _Finally_ writing something from Roman’s point of view it’s about TIME honestly, the other two parts were more focused on Logan anyway (and my other fics also were surprisingly more focused on the other sides even if Roman was the main focus-). I feel like I’ve written Roman being too nice, no matter the fic, and that boy is _petty_ so I’ve been dying to finally have the opportunity to write the bitter and hurt part of him because boy his ego got destroyed and somehow he still can stand?
> 
> Also, I’ve been listening to dodie’s Boys Like You while writing and so I ended up making these two sound like bitter exes so— yeah, that’s my headcanon now I guess.
> 
> ALSO ALSO my tumblr is [ loveliestroman](https://loveliestroman.tumblr.com/) I'm not that active on there but if you wanna message me or something don't hesitate <3

Thomas has started to talk to a new cute guy and Patton is ecstatic about it. Oddly enough, and as much as he tries, Roman cannot muster the same excitement despite being the embodiment of Thomas’ romantic fantasies. Logan suggested it may be a sign of deep insecurity which led Roman to feel even worse about his lack of enthusiasm because great, if this new relationship fails it’s gonna be his fault _again_.

So now, Roman also hasn’t talked to Logan for a few days. It isn’t bad, per se, he and Logan know when the other needs some alone time and they know neither of them is really in the wrong right now, but the frustration and lack of physical love are getting to Roman. He feels antsy, angry at himself but most of all: worried. He needs to get better. For Thomas’ sake. For _everyone’s_ sake.

But the imagination is broken. His most basic role in the mindscape is escaping him.

It has been a few days now but his control over the imagination has been off while the subconscious has resurfaced yet again. He asked Remus and the latter was just as clueless. The brothers have kept the worrying situation a secret but Roman just knows someone has been snooping around.

And Roman gets the confirmation when he feels movement behind him. He summons his sword and turns around just in time to stop a pretty recognisable staff from hitting him. The staff bounces against the metal of his sword, now rotating in the air above his head and that is when he hears someone just appear right behind him. Roman frowns, though still confused, as he quickly jumps to grab the staff before the intruder could and wastes no time throwing a kick as he turns around to meet the yellow of Janus’ eyes before landing back on his feet.

Janus barely dodges his foot, jumping back just in time before it hits his sides, but he is smirking with that infuriating smile of his. Janus flicks his wrist and the staff swiftly slips from Roman’s hold to find a home in his gloved ones instead. Their eyes meet again and Roman huffs, about to just turn around and ignore him when Janus suddenly bolts forward, leaving him just enough time for Roman to block his attack, hardwood meeting metal all over again.

Realistically, Janus should know he doesn’t stand a chance with such a weapon against his feeble staff and the fact they are in the imagination where the prince has all the powers — despite how limited they are at the moment — so Roman doesn’t let this pity of a fight go on for longer, grabbing Janus’ cloak with his free hand and kicking Janus’ left foot so the latter loses balance.

The deceitful side falls, surprisingly gracefully, on the ground while his staff rolls away. His hat falls as well, revealing his unruly hair and amused expression. Roman rolls his eyes.

“What do you actually want,” the prince demands rather than asks, sticking his sword on the ground right beside Janus’ head.

The other man looks way too peaceful just lying there. He might as well cross his arms behind his head while he is at it. And he does, infuriating Roman even more.

“To talk.”

“Which is why you just tried to attack me.”

“Just checking your reflexes my prince,” Janus says. They both knew they were holding back on each other.

“Don’t call me that.”

“What, a prince? You’re right, you don’t quite deserve it anymore, do you?”

“No, _yours_.” Roman makes a point on kneeling on Janus’ chest as he says so. Not enough to actually hurt or cut his respiration, but enough to establish some kind of dominance faced with such nonchalance. “I could not care less about what you think about my title, but never, ever, will I be yours so I better never hear this again.”

“That’s what you’d like to think,” the half-snake side says in a fake sweet tone as he reaches a hand, managing to graze Roman’s cheek before the latter pulls away abruptly. “But I’m the only one with the answers you seek.”

“A liar like you? With answers? Right.”

“You focus so much on the liar part you forget I am also here to better Thomas’ self. I know more than you bother to comprehend for everyone’s sake.”

“Huh, and how is that working out for you?” Roman snarls.

Janus actually falters this time, his confidence slipping away from him even if for just a few seconds. “ _Wonderfully_ ,” he lies. Even Roman isn’t fooled. “I’ve got everyone’s trust apart from you.”

“I’m sure Virgil and Logan will be delighted to hear they’re not included in that everyone,” Roman snarls back.

“You sound like me.”

“Whose fault is that, mister backstabber.”

To Roman’s sick satisfaction, Janus does wince at that before letting out a long sigh, dropping the act altogether. _Good_ , the prince thinks, tired of the fake pleasantries.

“You want to know why the imagination is acting up and the answer is pretty logical— literally.”

Roman frowns, remaining silent.

“Logic has no place in the imagination,” Janus says, as calmly as possible. “He’s spending too much time in here. Imagination is the farthest thing from logic and reality. He is also forgetting he is supposed to be grounded in reality, that’s his whole existence.”

“And you are sure of that because…?”

“Just told you I just _know_ things. I’m informing you for both of your sakes.”

Roman scowls because thinking about it, it does make sense. There is a reason Logan first avoided the imagination as much as he could even if not knowing that reason. But he really, really cannot brush off the feeling that Janus had to immerse himself in this just as he and Logan are satisfied being in their own bubble.

“Cool, I’ll talk about that with Logan then now you can go,” the prince dismisses the other side, getting up and starting to walk away.

“I’m not done though,” Janus protests as he gets back on his feet as well. Against his own better judgement, Roman halts his movements. “I wanna talk about you too.”

When Roman still doesn’t move nor respond, Janus carefully approaches, now standing directly behind Roman.

“Now tell me, if you really believe something, does it make it true?” he asks then since he seems to have the green light.

Roman frowns, keeping silent.

“It doesn’t,” Janus answers for him. “You’re not a villain, Roman.”

That sets Roman off.

“Oh so you’re back to trying to coax me, aren’t you?” the prince huffs, turning around and poking Janus in the chest, making the latter take a few steps back, not expecting the force from one single finger. “Spare yourself the bother, don’t worry I’ll talk to Patton and explain to him that’s one thing he can’t ask of you.”

“I’m not—!”

“You literally told me ten minutes ago I don’t deserve to call myself a prince anymore and now you’re trying to tell me I’m still good or whatever? You can’t fucking flip flop your opinion on me like that, pick one and stick to it, that will help you at pretending you can be honest with people.” A pause. “But you already can, can’t you? With Patton. You just never cared enough about me— _others_.”

“Roman…”

“You know I’m right. I’d rather you just ignore me than pretending, please I’m tired of falling for your lines.” Roman winces at the whiny tone of his voice as he says that but then brushes it off and shakes his head. “Stay away from me and everyone will be better off, especially Thomas.” A pause. “Oh, by the way, give me my copy of Othello back I know you took it from my room, Iago.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Janus lies. “And don’t call me by that name.”

“Oh but you deserve it,” Roman echoes his words with a smile.

“Quite presumptuous of you to compare yourself to Othello.”

Roman only quirks an eyebrow. “See what I mean about flip-flopping your opinion.”

“That’s— I just thought it was a _thing_ , you do that with Virgil!”

“I don’t, I get yelled at as soon as I dare tease him but he can throw a hundred insults my or Logan’s way and no one bats a fucking eye,” the creative side huffs. “What, you think I have a good relationship with that guy too? Nah, the effort’s too one-sided and I’m tired.”

“He misses you too, though…” This time Roman knows Janus isn’t lying.

“Afraid I can’t do anything about that,” Roman replies. “Anyway, thanks for your insight I guess, I need to go talk to Logan now so if you could leave and not stay too long in there, that’d be great, bye.”

And just like that, Roman teleports himself out of the imagination, ignoring Janus yelling out his name again.

-: ✧ :-

Roman finds Patton first, in the kitchen, pouring insane amount of sugar into some… cake mixture, Roman is not sure he wants to know really. Looks like he will have to give better baking lessons to him someday.

“Hey Pat,” he greets.

“Oh hey Roman!” Patton lights up, putting away the bowl immediately to give all his attention to the prince. Roman awkwardly laughs — it has been just slightly overwhelming, these past few days. Patton has been extremely clingy and Roman usually would not mind, he knows the moral side has missed him and he did miss him too, but he cannot help but also think all this attention is a result of him confiding in him about the subconscious and how he got shackled down if not given any attention or reassurance. It feels nice if not a bit disingenuous.

Or again, it might his lack of confidence speaking all over again. Everyone has to care for _Thomas_ ’ sake. But they don’t _actually_ care. There’s a nuance, and the tricky part is to make it genuine from every side. And for Roman to accept it himself, he guesses.

“Do you know where Logan is?”

“Did you check his room?”

“Obviously.”

“Then I don’t know, haven’t seen him around here at all. Why?”

Roman grimaces, not really feeling up to explaining everything but then Patton lets out an “oh” as his eyes lower. “Janus talked to you didn’t he?”

The prince tries not to scowl just hearing his name again. “You don’t happen to be the one who asked him to talk to me, do you?”

Patton lifts his hands. “Nope I didn’t!” he denies immediately. He sounds genuine so Roman drops the defensive act.

“Alright. Anyway so tell him he doesn’t need to, like, apologise or comfort me or whatever, we’re past that by now.”

Patton sends him a doubtful look. “Are you sure about that? Because if you need me to be a messenger, it clearly means you both haven’t worked out what needed to be worked out.”

Roman blinks, taken aback. Since when is Patton logical like that?

“He attacked me out of nowhere then said I didn’t deserve the title of prince anymore so clearly, we’re not there yet,” Roman petulantly replies and he knows he sounds like a child but he really can’t be bothered to care anymore. “He’s also been snooping around my room and I still have to understand why he’s taking my books like does he know he can summon one whenever he wants too? I’m not the only one who can do that.”

“Maybe he needed a reason to talk to you or for you to come to him.”

“I just need Logan—”

“Saw him talking with Remus,” a new voice comes in, startling Roman who has to stop himself from punching the sudden intruder. “Chill, it’s just me.”

“Virgil we talked about this,” Patton reprimands, “you’re gonna get punched one of these days if you keep appearing out of nowhere in our backs.”

“I literally just walked in but you just didn’t see me,” Virgil defends, holding both his hands in the air then quickly putting them back in his hoodie’s pockets. “Hey Ro.”

“How long have you been standing there?” the prince asks instead of a greeting which, he can admit, is kinda rude, but Virgil doesn’t seem too bothered by his lack of manners at the moment. Not that the anxious side is the epitome of good manners just in general anyway.

“Like I just said, I only walked in. Got just slightly disturbed by Patton’s… weird cake mixture too.”

That gets a chuckle out of Roman while Patton gasps in fake offence, hands clutching his heart as if hurt.

“Anyway so yeah I saw Logan with Remus in the Duke’s room. Looked pretty intense if you ask me. Think I heard them talking about the subconscious at some point? Is something wrong with the imagination again?”

 _Again_. Roman winces ever so slightly but keeps a smile on his lips as he waves a dismissive hand. “No of course not!” He has never been good at lying, as ironic as it seems for an actor, really. “Anyway, I’m gonna find them before Remus tries to murder my boyfriend again, kudos!”

And just like that, he’s off.

-: ✧ :-

Logan is not there when Roman gets to his brother’s room. Of course he isn’t. Instead, he is faced with Janus and Remus just hanging out and the prince audibly groans, immediately turning around to leave again — except Remus beats him to it, closing the door with a snap of his fingers before Roman had the time to walk out.

“Hey bro, we were just talking about you!” Remus exclaims, joyful as ever as he skips his way to his brother, immediately going for a hug. A tight hug. Roman groans, trying to push him away.

“Great, can’t wait to find out in what morbid way you’ll try to kill me next, now I gotta go,” Roman says when Remus lets go.

The door is still locked when he tries to open it and the duke smiles innocently. Well. Innocent is definitely not a word that could apply to Remus on any given circumstances ever…

Roman groans. _Again_. His throat is seriously starting to hurt and the frustration inside him is building up — he is scared of snapping at any moment.

“Fine, what do you want from me.” It is not a question. He glares in his brother’s direction then towards Janus who has been awfully quiet as well.

“Nothing, but Dee’s been bugging me off about you so now I’m gonna lock you up together until you sort this out!”

“You will what?!” Janus and Roman exclaim simultaneously and Roman startles a little, surprised at the pure betrayal in the deceitful side’s voice.

Remus gleefully claps his hands before everything goes dark.

Literally. Also figuratively actually for the prince.

Roman can’t really be bothered to even curse his brother out and just sits down, crossing his arms with a pout as he waits in the darkness for clarity to come back to him. He can’t really relax or prepare for whatever his brother is planning because, on the other hand, Janus doesn’t hesitate one bit cursing Remus out into another dimension.

Suddenly, the floor changes beneath him, soft carpet turning into grass and dirt. Roman startles, standing back up to avoid dirtying his white attire and then everything becomes clearer around him and his heart _stops_.

“No! No no no no no! Remus get us the fuck out of here!” he yells as the all too familiar dark barrier separating the imagination and subconscious appears in front of him… except he is standing on the wrong side of it.

Remus is waving at him from the imagination. Roman wants to strangle him.

“No! Good luck!” The Duke waves one last time before peacefully skipping away. Roman glares for a full minute at the translucent wall he knows he cannot walk through unlike his goddamn brother before he gets startled out of his mind by Janus’ loud yell of rage as he throws his staff against the wall to no avail.

Roman stays silent for a few more seconds as he watches the guy put a pointless fight against the wall and tire himself out in the process. And he used to think Janus was the most composed of them all. Remus is really good at getting to everyone’s nerves, it seems.

“How can he even do that?!” Janus exclaims, looking frantically at Roman who takes a step back.

“Dude chill, you literally knew the imagination’s messed up and he’s got more control over this part of it,” Roman says, surprised by how calm he himself is. It is difficult to focus on his own bad experience within the subconscious when Janus is losing his goddamn mind on the side.

“I didn’t know the extent of his powers now! I thought he’d just lock us in his room or something!”

“Oh so you did plan this out with him!” Roman accuses, his anger surfacing again. “Also that would have been stupid of him we could have just ducked out.”

“What else was I supposed to do? You keep fucking running away!”

“Because I can’t deal with you I’ve got enough on my plate already!”

“And you’re too full of yourself to realise I want to help!”

“Help?!” Roman repeats in disbelief. “Last time I _let_ you help me I ended up shooting myself on the foot.”

“I’m just trying to make things right again!”

“As if you ever cared about that.”

“Well yeah, you want me to be completely honest?” Janus snarls and Roman glares, clutching at his chest fully knowing the next words will hurt. “You sheltering yourself and Logan messing up the imagination is ruining Thomas’ ability to socialise. I’m not even just talking about that new guy he met. He’s a mess and can’t even act for shit anymore. For someone who is _so_ devastated about losing the callback of a lifetime you sure make no effort into getting a new opportunity.”

Silence. Only Janus’ heavy breathing and the distant grunting of creatures in the distance filling the air. Roman doesn’t really care, those creatures are the least of his worries at the moment as he starts to laugh, almost maniacally. Janus sends him an incredulous look, the implicit question of _“are you going insane?”_ floating in the air without ever being said.

“I fucking knew it, you couldn’t care less about our well-being you just wanna fix it all, no matter who gets left behind. I’m not the only one with a hero complex, please!” the Prince wheezes out as shadows suddenly rise around him. Roman doesn’t pay them any mind but Janus visibly shudders, grabbing his staff as the shadows slowly make their way to him.

_What the hell are those things?_

“Roman, snap out of whatever trance you are in you are still influencing your surroundings!” Which means the surroundings want to get rid of whatever is disturbing Roman and unfortunately for Janus, it just happens to be him. “I doubt Remus knew that,” he grumbles to himself as he jumps back when one of the shadows gets dangerously close.

Roman is still laughing, though it isn’t as loud as before. _Serves you right_ is on the tip of his tongue but he stops himself, refusing to stoop that low again.

So he snaps out of it, lightly slapping himself to get back on track and refocus on what is happening. Confusion overtakes him now as he fully takes on the shadows surrounding him — almost protecting him? When he reaches forward, the shadows dissipate around his hand before forming back up when he pulls back.

He doesn’t get to really think about it when he sees Janus stumble and fall, a shadow that has the suspicious silhouette of the prince having a firm grip on his cloak. The deceitful side doesn’t back down, however, waving his staff around trying to get the shadow-like monster to let go of him. It is useless, ultimately, so Roman glides to his side, effortlessly dodging the attacks and then jumping on Janus, the impact making them both roll over on the grass.

Roman ends ups on top of Janus, again, and he sees the exact moment the other side wants to make a comment, that familiar glint of mischief in his yellow eyes but he doesn’t get to open his mouth as his eyes catch something else behind Roman so the prince just blindly punches behind him.

He just doesn’t expect to hit actual flesh in the process and hear his brother yell out in pain.

“Bro that’s my di—”

“I don’t care!” Roman cuts him off before he can even finish that sentence. “Get rid of these shadows!”

“I already did don’t yell at me!” At that, Roman immediately stands up again only to see the ruins of the sort of prison he was once stuck in and a few patches of some sort of black goo on the ground.

Delightful. Still weirded out by what the fuck that was.

“Well it’s your fault for putting us there what were you thinking?!”

“Janus asked! Plus I came back as soon as I remembered you were pretty much useless here, so what’s the big deal.”

“I very much did not!” Janus protests, jumping back on his feet and poking Remus with his staff. “I asked for a way to get to talk to your brother.”

“Since when am I known for good plans anyway, should have talked to Logan,” Remus huffs.

“He hates me!”

“Geez, I wonder why,” Roman mutters, earning a glare from the half-snake side.

“Oh he does hate Janus, not for the reason you think though bro.”

At that, Roman only raises an eyebrow, too tired to fully question the statement. “Come on, wanna get out of here before those freaky shadow things come back.”

“They’re usually triggered by deep feelings of insecurity,” Remus comments, “remember? They used to be everywhere in the mindscape while Thomas had that emo phase.”

A look of realisation goes through both Roman’s and Janus’ faces but neither of them dares to speak. Remus looks at them curiously before shrugging and creating an opening into the wall. Roman rushes through it, feeling like he can breathe again once his feet step onto the luxurious green grass of the imagination rather than the muddy subconscious.

“Roman wait,” Janus stops him as he starts to walk away already, “just— thank you, for kind of saving me.” He offers his hand with a little smile and the prince stares at it for a moment, hesitant.

“Eh. Don’t fret it,” Roman dismisses, though there is a smile desperately tugging at his lips as he quickly shakes Janus’ hand before dropping it almost immediately. “I need a break now. Also, Remus, I hate you.”

The duke laughs. “Ditto!”

“Get some rest, you deserve it at last,” Janus speaks up again, shoving his hand back in his cloak. Roman sends him a look.

“Deserve it, right.” He ignores the dejected look from both Janus and his brother as he walks out of the imagination.

This was pointless and now he’s covered in dirt.

-: ✧ :-

“There you are!” Logan exclaims as he barges into Roman’s room. Roman barely even moves, keeping his head buried in his pillow. “I’ve been searching for— Oh God, what happened to you?”

“Take a guess,” he grumbles.

“Your brother and Janus?”

“Yup.”

He feels the bed dip next to him and soon a soothing hand rubbing his back and nape. If he could, Roman would be purring at the touch.

“Virgil told me you talked with Remus today. What was that about?” Roman asks, deciding to go straight to the point from now on.

“We were trying to figure out why the imagination was acting up.” Roman blinks. “Yes I knew what was happening, you cannot hide things from me, babe. He also asked how it was going between us. I think he keeps forgetting he’s already given me the protective brother speech,” Logan muses. “Didn’t tell him we haven’t actually… spoken for a few days until now. I do value my life.”

Roman feels a pang of guilt at that because he knows it is his fault. He is the one who ran away as soon as Logan said one thing that inconvenienced him.

“So did you figure something out?”

“Not really, no.”

Roman only hesitates for a few seconds. “Janus suggested something.”

Almost immediately he can feel Logan’s whole demeanour change, the lightheartedness of the situation fading away to let anger and bitterness take over the air.

“Not him again. Can’t he fucking stay put with Patton and Remus,” Logan grumbles. “This one’s mine.”

Roman probably wasn’t supposed to hear that last bit but he does. He doesn’t comment on it, not really sure how to handle Logan’s growing possessiveness lately. He doesn’t mind it, exactly, but he just doesn’t understand it. The past few years have shown Logan doesn’t really have anything to worry about, it’s not like any of the other sides have shown any interest in him anyway. Well, other than if he was useful to fit a certain moral compass he guesses.

“He had a point I gotta admit,” Roman sighs when Logan’s hands resume the massage.

“Let me guess he said it’s because of me? Who knows if he isn’t just saying that to mess with us,” the logical side says quickly but when Roman remains silent, not contradicting him, he shakes his head and sighs. “Ugh, alright, it makes sense and I hate it.”

Roman pouts. “Doesn’t mean we have to stop our adventures, does it? We can still do them just… less often.”

Logan hums. “I guess so. Books and movies will do for now, won’t they?” he offers next.

Roman smiles at that, rolling over and inviting Logan to lay on top of him. Which he does. The extra warmth and weight on him provide Roman with some sort of needed reassurance. God, he has been touch-deprived as well.

“They will.” It won’t solve Thomas’ confidence or the imagination, but Roman doesn’t want to think that far ahead. Not right now at least.

“Can we cuddle?” the prince asks. “And you read me something? How about _A Winter’s Tale_?”

“Of course,” Logan agrees immediately, dropping a kiss on Roman’s forehead. “I will grab the book, don’t fall asleep before that.”

“I’d never!”

Yes. Things are good.

If he repeats it to himself it is bound to become true, right?

**Author's Note:**

> These guys are gonna need a bit more time before everything is right again. I also tried to challenge myself with some more action-based scenes. I've always excelled in character studies and going deep into a character's feelings but I've always struggled writing action. Unfortunately, I have a bunch of ideas for UAs for this fandom that include some action so... better start practising now. I hope they were somewhat enjoyable to read! (Also I know Janus doesn't technically have a staff but... come on. It's cool)
> 
> So uh, this is turning into a full multi parts fic despite my effort to make every one shot as stand-alone as possible. I originally just wanted to write some cute Logince then I got _sidetracked_ I guess haha but oh well! I'm enjoying writing it. I still have an idea for _at least_ two more parts (so Virgil can actually have a role in there and also maybe finally actually write some Moceit ~~pining over Roman (and Logan? heheh)~~ ) so we'll see if I do end up finishing this story that totally wasn't planned at first.
> 
> [Tumblr](https://loveliestroman.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Thank you for reading dear, may our paths meet again x


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